\l 





^ (P. J, 




PRELIMINARY REPORT 


ON THE LANDS 


NANTAHALA&TUCKASEGE 


LAND AND MINERAL 


A.SSOCIA.TIO:^s 


By BAVID CHRISTY, Geologist 


CINCINNATI^: 

WRIGHT SON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, 

167 Walnut street. 

1856. 




1 


•X 





































C^rTv^aa^^c^^ 

PRELIMINARY REPORT 


ON THE LANDS 


MNTAHALA&TUCKASEGE 

LAND AND MINERAL 


^SSOCIA.TIOISr. 


By DAVID CHRISTY, Geologist. 


CINCINNATI : 

WRIGHTSON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, 

167 Walnut street. 








EEPORT. 


Messes. Goodhue, Peobasco & Co.: 

In reporting mj labors in the Mineral region of Cherokee, 
Macon and Jackson counties, North Carolina, to your Associ¬ 
ation, several topics present themselves for consideration. Your 
aim, as I understand it, is not only to develop the Mineral re¬ 
sources of the territory purchased; but by the introduction of 
wool-growing and other pursuits dependent upon pasturage, to 
turn its surface to profitable account. My attention, therefore, 
has been called to the following points : 

1. The geological and mineralogical character of the country. 

2. The probable value of your lands for mining purposes, as 
inferable from the openings made upon them, and a comparison 
of their mineral leads with those of Tennessee, where full devel¬ 
opments of the mines have been made. 

3. The facilities for the transportation of metals and ores to 
distant markets, when your mines are fully opened. 

4. The value of your lands as adapted to pasturage, the grow¬ 
ing of wool, and general agricultural purposes. 

In presenting the information collected under these heads, 
they will, as far as practicable, be noticed separately; but it will 
be necessary also, to some extent, to speak of them collectively. 

1. Geological and Mineralogical character of the country. 

The rocks of the region under consideration are of the same 
age. Geologically considered, as those of portions of Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Ohio, and other Western States; but they have been 
upturned on their edges, at various angles, by volcanic forces, 
and re-crystallized by heat. The change thus produced upon 
them, is designated in Geology by the term Metamorphic. It 



4 


T 7 as during the period in which the rocks of North Carolina were 
undergoing this change, probably, that the metallic veins were 
injected into them. Like the rocks of the States referred to, 
the Meiamorphic of Western North Carolina are regularly 

stratified, and maintain, throughout extensive ranges, great uni¬ 
formity of structure and mineral composition. 

There has been no Geological survey of that part of North 
Carolina which includes your lands. Professor Safford has 
made a survey of that portion of Tennessee which includes its 
Copper mines, and adjoins Cherokee county. North Carolina, on 
the west. lie was appointed State Geologist, and made his first 
Report last winter, which has been printed by order of the Legis¬ 
lature. Two additional surveys of the Ducktown region have 
been made by Professional Geologists, whose Reports have been 
printed by those interested in the mines. 

On commencing my investigations, none of these Reports had 
come into my possession, and I had to begin my labors unaided 
by the previous examinations of others. The Geology of the 
Copper region of Tennessee was first ascertained, and from thence 
the survey was extended eastward to the region through which 
the Charleston and Cincinnati[Railroad is located, and in process 
of construction. In these explorations I was greatly aided by 
Felix Axley, Esq., of Murphy, North Carolina, and other in¬ 
telligent gentlemen of that State, who had previously gone over 
the ground, and ascertained the points where the minerals at the 
surface indicate metallic veins beneath. 

The metallic veins ascertained to exist in the district named, 
include copper ores, Lead ore including sd'cer, Iron ores, Blach 
lead, and Gold. Ochres, the best of their kind for Paints, also 
exist in one or two places. 

The district in which your lands have been purchased, being 
too distant from any practicable means of transportation, failed 
to attract attention, and was thus left open for your agent to take 
the first choice of the mineral lands. 

The Geology of the mineral belt is simple and easily compre¬ 
hended. The Smoky Mountain, on its Northern side, is composed 


5 


of sandstones, conglomerates, sliales, and slates, alternating with 
each other, and so far altered by heat as to be called Semi-Meta- 
morpliic. The strata are tilted up at a high angle, and dip, gen¬ 
erally, to the South-east. The upturned edges of the rocks are 
to be seen ranging from North-east to South-west, for hundreds 
of miles. Veins of Quartz roch, from a few inches to more than 
ten feet in thickness, are protruded through the fissures in these 
strata, and in many places give a fair yield of Gold. These 
Quartz veins are not found to be very numerous, in crossing the 
Northern side of the mineral belt. 

To the South of this Semi-Metamorphic range, the Metamor- 
phio Modes occur, and extend to the southern margin of the min¬ 
eral belt. They consist of Gneiss, Mica Slate, Ilornhlende Slate, 
Talcose Slate, Argillaceous Slate, and Chloritic Slate, with their 
usual variations. These several classes of rocks alternate or 
intermingle with each other, the separate bands being at times 
many hundreds of feet in thickness, while at others they meas¬ 
ure no more than a few yards. Some ranges of metamorpliic 
limestone, constituting, in places, a very good marble, are inclu¬ 
ded in this portion of this mineral belt. This limestone often 
includes some lead ore, known to be argentiferous, or silver-hear¬ 
ing. It has been tested by Prof. G. D. Smith, of Macon county, 
N. C. The richest gold placers in Western North Carolina were 
found on Valley River, Cherokee county, along one of these 
ranges of limestone. Quartz veins, some of which are barren 
and others rich in gold, occur in these rocks also; and all the 
workable copper mines have been found within their range. 
But the copper mines, mostly, have been found in what are called 
the Iron Gossan leads, and but seldom in the Quartz leads. 

The Metallic Veins of the region under review, occur among 
the strata of the rocks described, as engraved plates in a book 
among the printed leaves. They have not been produced by the 
causes which formed the rocks, but have been forced into their 
present position, between the strata, by volcanic action. As the 
engraving lies between the printed pages, so the metallic veins 
lie between the strata, dipping as they dip, and appearing in 




6 


outcropping lines along the surface as they do.” The origin of 
these veins having been volcanic, the fissures into which they 
were injected would be produced in the Aveaker rocks, or those 
Avhose layers AA^ould have the least adhesion, and separate most 
easily. Thus the greater portion of the discovered mines are 
in Mica slate, or Talcose slate, Avhich, of all the classes of rocks 
existing here, tvould be the most easily fissured by volcanic 
agencies. Some of the copper mines opened, hoAvever, are in 
the Gneissoid rocks. 

The metallic veins, though not of Amry frequent occurrence, 
in crossing the mineral belt, yet seem to be arranged in groups. 
At DucktoAvn, Tennessee, there are at least seven or eight dis¬ 
tinct veins of copper, running generally parallel to each other, 
and limited in their North and South range to a width of about 
three miles. These metallic A^eins are usually composed of 
three distinct portions. The upper part is a mass of light porous 
hydrated jyer oxyd of iron, to Avhich the miner’s term gossan is 
universally applied. This gossan is found on the surface at many 
points along the outcrops of the veins, especially on the knolls 
and ridges. Sometimes it occurs in great banks or blocks, scat¬ 
tered over a space of fifty or a hundred feet Avide, while at oth¬ 
ers but little of it is to be seen. The deptli to Avhich it extends 
in the vein is Amriable, being often from seventy to nin'^ty feet 
on the high grounds, but in the valleys perhaps about tAventy- 
five. The depth appears to be the same as that to which it is 
necessary to go—in digging Avells, for example—to reach 
AA'ater.* 

Immediately beloAV the gossan there occurs a bed or mass of 
dark or black coijyer ore, some of Avhich contains as high as fifty 
per cent, of metallic copper, but aA^eraging from sixteen to twenty. 
Its Axrtical thickness is variable ; at some points it saycIIs out in 
great masses many cubic yards in volume ; then again it becomes 
a thin, irregular layer. The average thickness, perhaps, is 
betAveen two and three feet. In width, of course, it varies with 
the veins, Avhich at some points arc fifty and sixty feet Avide, 

■=-Trof. Salford 





7 


thougli the average is much lower. This bed of black copper 
ore has furnished, as yet, nearly all the ore shipped from the 
mines in Tennessee,* 

The lowest, or third portion of these veins, is composed of a 
compound sulpliuret of iron and copper. The two minerals are 
commingled in distinct crystals, the sulphuret of iron, however, 
greatly predominating in the upper portion, while the sulphuret 
of copper, or the yellow copper, as it is called, increases in de¬ 
scending upon the lode.’\ This portion of the vein is continuous 
downward, and has no termination, probably, except in the great 
interior source of metallic veins. 

Thus, then, these metallic veins are composed of three parts: 
the Iron gossan, the hlach copper ore, and the compound sulphu¬ 
ret of Iron and Copper. The last named ores are called, by the 
miners, the ^‘arsenical iron,” when the sulphuret of iron pre¬ 
dominates. 

The question very naturally arises, how has this condition of 
things been produced ? In the Reports before me, two attempts 
are made to solve the question, and the writers agree in opinion. 

Says one : “ It is quite evident that the whole vein up to the 
very surface (and far into the air, for it has suffered from the 
same denudation that has moulded the surrounding country), 
was originally a compound sulphuret of iron and copper. The 
rains on the hills finding their way down from the surface through 
the upper part of the vein, and issuing in springs at water level, 
have gradually filtered down the copper to Avater level, and car¬ 
ried off the sulphur, leaving all the upper mass a red oxyd of 
iron, and underneath it a transverse layer of precipitated black 
oxyd of copper, below which, the process, of course, could not 
be carried on, and the vein remains a body of sulphuret of iron 
and copper.”J 

Another says : The vein was once undoubtedly filled to the 
top with this material. [The sulphuret of iron and copper.] 

* Prof. Satford. t The term lode is applied to any regular vein, 

whether of metals or minerals, or both combined. 

t Report of J. B. Lesley, Eaq., Topographical Geologist. 



The gossan and the llach oxyd have been derived from its decom¬ 
position, which has taken place mainly, as we think, through the 
action of water. The original ^ arsenical ’ ore, in the slow pro¬ 
gress of its decomposition downwards, has left behind the result¬ 
ing light porous gossan. The heavier hlaclc oxyd^ on the other 
hand, in some form or other, has been constantly carried down¬ 
wards, until it has formed, resting immediately on the undecom¬ 
posed mass, the bed of black ore as we now find it.”* 

Among the specimens which I brought home for your inspec¬ 
tion, there are some of the yellow copper ore, in "which the 
‘^arsenical iron” is the exclusive gangiie stone in others'you 
will notice crystals of tremolite, or other earthy minerals allied 
to hornhlcnde, disseminated through the arsenical iron, side by 
side with the yellow copper ore; while in others still, the arsen¬ 
ical iron is absent, and these earthy minerals, alone, compose the 
gangue stone. Now, wherever a copper vein has but little or 
none of the arsenical iron associated with its ores, there the 
explorer for copper leads must expect but little or none of the 
iron gossan on the surface, because there has been nothing in the 
vein from which it could be formed. In such cases, the lead 
must be traced by other indicatians, well known to Geologists. 

Another remark is needed, in reference to the origin of larger 
or smaller amounts of gossan on the surface. The Ducktown 
mines do not occur on the mountain ranges, but are in a series 
of low ridges included in a cove between surrounding mountains. 
It is the opinion of some, that these hills were once of equal 
height with the adjacent mountains, but have been reduced by 
the denuding action of water. It is a general rule, that metallic 
veins, not affected by chemical action from above, increase in 
width as they are followed downwards. It would appear from 
this, that metallic veins, in their protrusion into the strata, have 
contracted as they approached the surface, and that where de¬ 
nudation has diminished the height of the mountains, the metallic 
veins must be of greater thickness, than where they maintain their 

* Report of Prof. Safford. 

t The term gangue rock is applied to any rock, or one which includes in its 
mass any valuable metals. 



9 


original elevation. The Ducktown mines being on grounds many 
hundred feet lower than the mountain ranges, will present their 
veins in as favorable a position, as to thickness, as the mountain 
leads would show if mined to the depth of one or two thousand 
feet. As, then, the amount of gossan exposed on the surface, must 
depend upon the thickness of the veins, and the proportion of 
arsenical iron in them, it will he readily inferred that the iron 
gossayi leads, where they pass through the mountains, must 
necessarily make less show than on the low grounds. With 
these statements I shall proceed to the second topic to be con¬ 
sidered. 

2. The probable value of your lands for mining purposes, as 
inferable from the openings made upon them, and a comparison 
of their mineral leads with those of Tennessee, where full develop¬ 
ments of the mines have been made. 

First. The Case Copper Mine ; This mine was purchased 
from Samuel Care, and others, for your Association. It is 
located ten miles south of Franklin, Macon County, near the 
Tennessee river. It is only about a mile from the Rabun Gap 
Rail Road, and four miles from the Georgia line. It is opened 
on an iron gossan lead. The copper ore was struck at a depth 
of thirty feet, and several tons of ore have been thrown up into 
pile under a shed. It is the Hack ore, intermingled with sulphu- 
ret of iron. One specimen, analyzed at the time the mine was 
opened, I was informed, yielded forty per cent of copper. Ano¬ 
ther specimen taken from the tunnel near the shaft, by myself, 
has been analyzed and found equally rich in copper. The 
thickness of this vein has not yet been ascertained, but it prom¬ 
ises to be amply large for profitable mining. The grounds upon 
which it is opened are of moderate height, and a very large 
amount of gossan, strewn over the surface, indicates a vein of 
considerable width. 

This mine must be viewed as a valuable acquisition not only 
on account of its favorable location so near the Rail Road, but 
because of its being so promising as to the width of the lode. An 


10 


abundance of fuel for smelting can be bad from the lands around 
the mine. 

Second. The Patton Mine. This mine was purchased from 
the Messrs. Patton, and is located on the branches of Cartooge- 
jayee creek, about four miles south-west of Franklin, and three 
miles perhaps, in a direct line, from the Rail Road. Its opening 
was superintended by Prof. C. D. Smith, an intelligent Geo¬ 
logist, late of Knoxville, Tennessee. The shafts and tunnels 
had not been touched for six months or more previous to my 
visit and were so obstructed that it was difficult to see the ore 
% in place. But the specimens of both black and yellow ore, pre¬ 
served in the collection of Prof. Smith, on my first visit to Ids 
cabinet, six months since, and some which I obtained myself 
from the mine, on my last visit, show that the lod.e has a fair 
prospect of being rich in copper. Prof. Smith, in describing 
this mine says: 

The Patton vein is enclosed by Gneiss, the gangue of which 
is principally a Ilornhlendic material with granulated quartz. 
Some of the specimens resemble greeyi stone in some of their 
features. This gangue is quite distinct from the strata in vrhich 
it is enclosed, and has shown itself to be quite an ore-hearing 
material so far as developed. I regret being unable to speak 
more fully of the width of the lode, not having cut through it. 
It has been penetrated some eight or ten feet by the tunnels; 
but from the present condition of the works I am unable to fur-, 
nish you with a suit of the best specimens from this vein. You 
will find the specimens wffiich I hand you to contain copper pyrites 
and a sort of gmy sidphuret of copper. While prosecuting the 
work I also found some pockets of black oxyd of copper^ all of 
which have either been carried away or destroyed in the rubbish 
of the mine.’’ 

Third .— The Walhrup Mine, lies a mile or tw^o west of the 
Patton mine. It embraces three hundred acres, and is on the 
same lead with the Patton mine. The surface testings laid open 
some Copper ore, but the lode has not been cut into at any 
considerable depth. 


11 


Fourth . —The Nantahala Mine, was purchased from the 
Messrs. Patton. It lies on the Eastern side of the Nantahala 
mountain, facing the Rail Road, embraces six hundred and forty 
acres, shows good surface indications of Copper, but no opening 
has yet been made upon the tract. 

Fifth .— The Dyche Mineral Lands. These lands consist’of 
twenty thousand acres lying westward of the Patton mine, 
the lead of which runs through one of the tracts embracing five 
thousand acres. The remaining fifteen thousand acres were 
entered by Mr. Dyche, on account of the favorable mineral 
indications they present. Copper has been struck on a tract of 
land adjoining the first mentioned five thousand acre tract; and 
a mine has been opened on the Patton lead, on a 160 acre tract 
of Mrs. Brown, west of the Hiwassee river, which sold, the first 
of June last, for $9,400 cash. 

Sixth .— The Marr Lands. These lands were purchased from 
Wm. Marr, Esq. are in the vicinity of the Dyche lands, embrace 
twenty “two hundred and eighty acres, and were selected by Mr. 
Marr, on account of the Patton lead passing through a portion 
of them, and because of the mineral prospects or agricultural 
value of the remaining portion. 

Seventh. —The Davis amd Ghormley Lands. These lands 
embrace twenty four thousand three hundred and twenty acres. 
They are located in Macon and Jackson counties North Carolina, 
on the North side of the Tuckasege river, and commence within 
a few miles of the Rabun Gap Rail Road, from whence they ex¬ 
tend eastward along the leads of the Iron Gossan and of Quartz 
existing in that neighborhood. These lands were located by Dr. 
Davis, after examining the Duck town mines, and the whole inter¬ 
mediate country. They are supposed to be on the Ducktown 
leads, and include the tracts pointed out to Mr. Axley, by Mr. 
Faber, a Geologist of New York, as the most promising Copper 
lands in North Carolina. No testing has yet been done upon them. 
This body of lands will be intersected by the North Carolina 
Central Rail Road, which is projected to extend down the Tuck¬ 
asege river, to intersect the Charleston and Cincinnati R. R. 


Eighth. — The Delozier Lands. —These lands embrace six 
thousand seven hundred and twenty-acres, and are in Cherokee 
county, North Carolina. They have been purchased from Delo¬ 
zier and others. One of the tracts, embracing 640 acres, is 
directly on the Rabun Gap Railroad, the width of the Little 
Tennessee, only, separating it from the track of the road. The 
remaining tracts are a little to the Westward, but on the same 
mineral lead. The first named tract is about three-fourths of a 
mile below the mouth of the Tuckasege river. John Caldwell, 
Esq., who has been so fortunate in his testings at Ducktown, 
examined this tract a year or two since, and, upon digging a few 
feet below the surface, in the bed of a small stream, he found 
mineral substances, which he pronounced copper ores. The 
place had been filled up by the floods, and I had no time for re¬ 
opening it. 

The broad band of Talcose slates, on which these lands are 
located, extends for a great distance in a line parallel with the 
Smoky Mountain, but some fifteen to twenty miles South of the 
center of that mountain range. Its lands have been held in high 
repute, by explorers for mineral wealth, and none of it now 
remains vacant. The slate is hard to penetrate, no science has 
yet been applied to testing it, and but little success has attended 
the labor of explorers. But I have been informed, by reliable 
authorities, that eo'pper ores^ and some silver combined with lead 
ore, have been discovered in this range of Talcose slates. It is 
very certain that the iron gossan and Quartz leads, extending 
throughout its range, have not been fairly tested. Some of the 
parties interested at Ducktown have purchased a considerable 
amount of lands upon these leads. 

Ninth. —^Negotiations are in progress for the acquisition of 
two mines of hlach lead, one of which, from the specimens sup¬ 
plied, seems to be of very fine quality, and the other of a char¬ 
acter likely to be in extensive demand by foundry men. 

The similarity of the mineral leads throughout your lands to 
those of Tennessee, adjoining, making proper allowance for the 


13 


greater elevation of the country, leaves no doubt upon the minds of 
those who have made the examination, that there can be but little 
difference in the mineral productiveness of the two districts. So 
fully impressed were some of the leading operators of Ducktown 
with the truth of this view, that they, some months since, pro¬ 
ceeded to purchase 10,000 acres of land to the North-east of the 
Patton mine. At both points the lodes are found to be richer in 
yellow copper ore, near the surface, than at Ducktown. The 
Cabe mine seems to be identical in the character of its ores with 
the Ducktown mines. 

There were doubts at one time, when the supplies of black ore 
were found to be limited, whether the mines of Ducktown would 
be permanent. This question could only be settled by testing 
the lower portion of the lode for yellow ore. This was under¬ 
taken by the Hiwassee Company, and a shaft has been sunk so 
as to cut the lode at the depth of seven hundred feet. The 
work is superintended by Capt. Harris, an intelligent English 
gentleman, familiar with mining. At the depth of one hundred 
and forty feet, an adit was run out from the shaft to the lode, the 
results of which he reports thus : “ The farther I get into the 
lode, the better it proves to be. I am at present five feet in the 
lode; if it continues to improve, it will surpass any thing I ever 
saw.” Again, at a later date, he says: “The vein has been 
intersected by a cross-cut sixty feet lower, being two hundred 
feet from the surface. At this depth it has greatly improved. 
Masses of fine yellow sulphuret of copper occur in abundance. 
This is considered as settling the value of the mines.” 

A word as to the productiveness of the Ducktown copper 
mines. The first mine was discovered in 1850, and no shipments 
of ores, on a large scale, could then be made, nor until long 
afterwards, for want of roads. Even at present it is forty-three 
miles to Cleveland, on the East Tennessee Railroad, the nearest 
point at which railroad transportation can be reached. The 
earlier shipments had to be made to Dalton, Georgia, a distance 
of seventy-four miles. Notwithstanding these inconveniences, 
there had been 14,291 tons of copper ores shipped from the 


14 


Duclctown mines, before tbe close of 1855, which •was sold for 
more than a million of dollars. 

To enable you to judge of the productive capacity of these 
mines, it need only be said, that, in the month of September, 
1855, ^even mines produced a little more than 807J tons of ore? 
the value of which was about $80,000, or at the rate of nearly a 
million of dollars per annum.* 

It may here be explained, that the copper mines of Tennessee 
and North Carolina, including those belonging to your Associ¬ 
ation, differ very essentially from those of the Lake Superior 
region. The copper veins of Lake Superior contain, often, a very 
large proportion of native copper^ which can not be removed from 
the mines by drilling and blasting. A charge of powder, instead 
of fracturing the native copper in which it is inserted, merely 
shoots out the tamping^ as the wadding is shot from an ordinary 
brass cannon, or the ball from a Sharpe’s rifle. The slow pro¬ 
cess of cutting it up by the chisel is the only remedy. On the 
contrary, the Tennessee and North Carolina copper veins contain 
nothing but hrittle ores, which are as easily fractured as common 
limestone, and a miner can throw out as many perch of it in a 
day as he could of ordinary limestone rock, excepting that the 
drilling, at times, may be more tedious. 

I have not at hand the means of contrasting the relative pro¬ 
ductiveness of the Tennessee and Lake Superior copper mines: 
but the Railroad Record of January 31, 1856, has the following 
statement, which, from the known accuracy of Prof. Mansfield, 
its editor, may be taken as a close approximation to the facts in 
the case. It presents the Tennessee mines in a very encouraging 
attitude, notwithstanding that they have not been opened half so 
many years as those of the Superior region. This may be ac¬ 
counted for, however, by the fact, that the intensity of the cold 
of winter renders the latter mines inaccessible for more than six 
months in the year, while the labor at the former need not be 
remitted, on account of cold, for a single day. 


® Geological Report of Tennessee. 



15 


‘‘ It is a singular fact, that while the New York and Boston 
owners of copper mines, on Lake Superior, have been filling the 
world with their renown; while, we say, this has been going on 
at the North, the copper mines of East Tennessee have fcen 
producing three-fold as much copper! We find, in the Lake pa¬ 
pers, that the amount of copper produced on Lake Superior last 
year,*^and exported, was about 4,800 tons, while that produced 
in East Tennessee was 14,191 tons. * * * 

“ Our imports of copper (deducting exports), amount to about 
$3,000,000, of which two-thirds are from Chili, imported in pigs 
and ore. It would seem that there are no manufacturing estab¬ 
lishments for copper in Chili, or we should not import it in the 
raw state. 

“ As we now mine (in this country), two-thirds the copper we 
consume, as there are many new mines, and the product con¬ 
stantly increasing, it is very obvious we shall soon export copper 
to Europe. In fact, copper will probably be the first metal in 
which we shall show a superiority over the rest of the world. 

‘‘ The copper mines of the United States are entirely inex¬ 
haustible, and some of them rich, beyond, anything known in 
other countries. Mines were formerly worked in New England, 
which are about to be revived. * * 

Since we wrote the above item, it has occurred to us, that 
the Lake Superior copper ore, sent to the East, may be in a more 
pure state, and thus account for the difference. We find that 
the copper ore sent out, by the Cliff mine, yielded 4T per cent.; 
that by the Tennessee companies, about 24 Mining Journal^ 
Eeb., 1855), and at this rate, the difference would be thus : 

Lake Superior,...,.5,000 tons produced 2,350 tons 

Tennessee and Georgia.14,000 “ “ 3,360 “ 

So that the amount oipure copper now mined, in the Tennes¬ 
see region, is yet much greater than that on Lake Superior.” 

A word, also, as to the value of copper lands at Ducktown. 
The Hiwassee Company, at its organization, purchased 500 acres 
of land, for which, including the rights of third parties to the 
adit, shafts, drifts, etc., they paid $220,000; and, recently, ano¬ 
ther tract of 160 acres, with a mine fully developed, was sold for 
$460,000. 

The cost of opening mines on your lands may be inferred from 
the fact stated in one of the Beports referred to. The actual cost 




16 


of raising 447 tons of ore, with the cost of shafts, driving drifts > 
and other work preparatory to taking out the ore, with all labor 
at the mines, amounted to only $2,011, independent of salaries. 

3. The facilities for the transportation of metals and ores to 
distant markets, when your mines are fully opened. 

The inquiries into this point have been carefully made, and 
the information derived from official sources. The Charleston 
and Knoxville Railroad, when finished, will pass through the 
immediate vicinity of your lands, and afford a direct means of 
communication with the sea-board. The North Carolina Central 
Railroad, in its extension Westward, will also intersect a large 
body of them. To understand, fairly, the prospects of your 
being able to ship the ores of your mines to market, the history 
and present condition of the first named road must be stated : 

This railroad has been finished from Charleston, South Caro¬ 
lina, as far as Anderson, in that State. The Blue Ridge Rail¬ 
road Company, covering the distance between Anderson and the 
Georgia line, was chartered by the Legislature of South Caro¬ 
lina, December, 1852. The State at that time refused to sub¬ 
scribe to the funds of the Company, but agreed to indorse its 
bonds to the amount of $1,250,000. The city of Charleston, 
at the same time, subscribed $1,049,000. In July, 1853, a con¬ 
tract was entered into with A. Bangs & Co., of New York, for 
the construction of the whole road from Anderson, S. C., to 
Knoxville, Tennessee, a distance of 196 miles. Work was com¬ 
menced November, 1853, and the road to be finished in three 
and a half years. 

In December, 1854, the State amended the act, granting aid, 
by subscribing $1,000,000, and reducing the State indorsement 
of the bonds of the Company to $1,000,000. These sums, added 
to the subscription of Charleston city, gave the Company avail¬ 
able cash to the amount of $3,000,000. 

On February 1, 1856, the Company notified Bangs & Co., 
that if sufficient force was not placed upon the tunnels and ma¬ 
sonry, by the first of April, to finish the road by the time named 


17 


in the contract, they would declare it void, and undertake the 
work themselves. No improvement being made on the first of 
April, the Company assumed the work, and made contracts on 
very favorable terms, with reliable and competent men, at a con¬ 
siderable saving on the prices of Bangs & Co. 

The grading in South Carolina, 50 miles, is nearly finished; 
and, but for the want of bridges, the track could be laid for 85 
miles, to Walhalla, this year. Temporary Tressel work will be 
erected over two of these streams immediately, and the iron will 
be laid six miles from Anderson this year, and to Pendleton, 14 
miles, early next year. 

In Georgia the whole work is under contract, and progressing. 
The work in Tennessee is also let, and progressing vigorously. 
The State of Tennessee has appropriated $10,000 per mile to 
this railroad, so far as it extends within her own limits. The 
cash means of the Company are $4,250,000, and it is authorized 
to issue $1,500,000 in bonds. These amounts will be increased 
by the sums paid to contractors, in stocks and bonds. On the 
4th September last, the city of Knoxville subscribed an addi¬ 
tional $50,000, which secures the completion of the road to the 
Kentucky line. 

The principal tunnel, at the Stump House mountain, in South 
Carolina, will offer no great obstacle to the progress of the work. 
The rock through which it is being cut is G-neisSf as Geologists 
term the stratified crystalline rocks destitute of organic remains. 
It is not in a decomposing state, but compact and hard, and no 
arching will be required. The excavation is progressing at the 
rate of two feet per day, Jwhen all things are in proper order; 
and when the shafts are sunk to grade, there will be ten faces to 
work upon. 

As this road passes through portions of four different States, 
as many separate charters and organizations were necessary to 
the prosecution of the work. The charters, however, were drawn 
up with the view of consolidating the Directory under one head. 
The Blue Ridge Railroad Company, in South Carolina, is now 
2 


18 


constituted the active Agent of the whole of the Companies; and 
the work is thus under the control of its efficient President, Judge 
Frost, and its able Chief Engineer, Col. Gwynne. 

The distances are as follows: From Anderson to the Georgia 
line, 50J miles: thence to the North Carolina line, 17J miles ; 
thence to the Tennessee line, 74 miles; and thence to Knoxville, 
54 miles. Total, 196 miles. 

The work on this railroad is now progressing vigorously. The 
city of Charleston stands pledged to its completion, as her only 
practicable outlet to the North-west. The contracts for the com¬ 
pletion of the heavy fills and tunnels are limited to four years 
and a half, from first of April last. The minor jobs will be com¬ 
pleted before that period, so that there will be no delay in put¬ 
ting on the rolling stock. 

But while over four years must elapse before the railroad is 
completed through North Carolina, it will be finished to the 
Stump House mountain in two years from last July. This point 
being distant from your Cabe Mine only thirty-five miles, you 
can then commence the transportation of ores, as there is a good 
wagon road the whole distance. 

It is but justice to say, in this connection, that the Rabun 
Gap Railroad owes its existence to the intelligent exertions of 
Col. Wm. H. Thomas, of North Carolina; and that he is now 
devoting himself with equal ardor to the extension of the North 
Carolina Central Railroad, so as to secure a connection between 
Beaufort, on the Atlantic, and Memphis, on the Mississippi. As 
success has crowned his efforts in the first case, so we feel con¬ 
fident he will be equally successfal in the last. Arrangements 
had been made for a preliminary survey of the route by Col. 
Gwynne, through the counties of Jackson, Macon, and Cherokee, 
in North Carolina, to Ducktown, in Tennessee. This examina¬ 
tion was made during the summer, and the Report will be pre¬ 
pared before the meeting of the next Legislature. 

The Rabun Gap and Knoxville Railroad is located along the 
valley of the Little Tennessee, and passes within one mile of 
your Cabe mine, and within about three miles of the Patton mine, 


on Cartoogejayee Creek. It also passes alongside of some of your 
other mineral lands, as before stated, the river only separating 
the road from the line of the lands. All the lands obtained on 
the West side of the river are within a reasonable distance of the 
road, so as to add no very great expense in the transportation 
of metals and ores. 

The North Carolina Central Railroad is to pass down the 
Tuckasege river, and will intersect the lands purchased on the 
East side of the Tennessee river. It is thus rendered certain, 
that, at no very distant day, the products of the whole of your 
mineral lands will be rendered accessible to market by railroad 
transportation; so that in twelve hours from the time the cars 
start from your mines, the ores can he landed on the sea-hoard, 

4. The value of your lands as adapted to Pasturage and the 
growing of Wool, and Agricultural purposes. 

To understand the agricultural value of your lands, a few re¬ 
marks are needed. Soils, it is well understood, are derived from 
the decomposition of rocks; and the combination therewith of 
decomposing vegetable and animal substances renders them fer¬ 
tile. Some soils are produced from rocks in'place, while others 
are derived from rocky materials transported from other points 
by currents of water or the action of ice-bergs, as in the case 
in districts covered by Diluvium or Alluvium, There are no 
such deposites in Western North Carolina, as diluvial or alluvi¬ 
al, excepting along the courses of the rivers. The soils of its 
uplands, therefore, must have been derived from the rocks upon 
which they are based, except where the superior portions of the 
mountains differ Geologically from the inferior and have sent 
down, by the rain currents, a portion of their decomposing ma¬ 
terials to mingle their elements with those of a dissimilar cha¬ 
racter below. The Geologist, then, by examining the ranges of 
these Metamorphic Rocks at one point, can without the labor of 
visiting them, decide with great certainty as to the quality of their 
soils at other points. He knows that the only material differ¬ 
ence which can exist in the soils at any two points, along the 
same strata of rocks, will depend, not upon differences in ihh 


20 


inorganic elements composing them, but in the greater or less 
depth to which they have accumulated, and the amount of organic^ 
elements intermingled therein from the decomposition of vegeta- 
tion. This rule has some exceptions, but they need not he no¬ 
ticed here. None of the lands purchased are situated on Geolo¬ 
gical ranges of rocks that were not examined at many points. 
There are none of them but will afford good soils for pasturage; 
while there are coves and other portions of many of the tracts 
which are adapted to tillage. But it will be best to proceed 
more systematically. 

From experiments made, it has been determined that the 
mountain lands of Cherokee, Macon and Jackson Counties, 
North Corolina, within which your lands are located, are well 
adapted to the growth of the tame grasses and clover, and are 
admirably adapted to pasturage, either for sheep, mules or cat¬ 
tle, but especially for the former. 

But to say that the soil and climate of Western North Carol¬ 
ina are better adapted to the raising of sheep than of other ani¬ 
mals, is to state only half the truth. North Carolina can be made 
to compete successfully, in wool growing, with the world at large. 
The altitude of the country, the purity of its atmosphere, the 
mildness of its climate, the abundance of its never-failing springs 
of pure water, its freedom from all malarious influences, its un¬ 
varying healthfulness, all combine to make it the most attractive 
point of immigration in the Union; and when once it is generally 
known that it presents the most inviting field for the production 
of Wool, one of the great staples of the country, the wool-grow¬ 
ers will not fail to accept the advantages it offers. 

It is no exaggeration to say, that Western North Corolina 
can be made to compete with the world, in the production of the 
finest qualities of Wool. There can be no appreciable difference, 
as to climate and other conditions, between it and Tennessee, 

* The inorganic elements of rocks and soils are potash, soda, lime, magnesia, 
manganese, iron silica, and alumina. 

The organic elements essential to vegetation, are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen 
and carbon. 



21 


wMclx has already competed with the world, for the Golden 
Fleece, and won the prize. 

Mark R. Cockerell Esq., an extensive Wool-grower of 
Tennessee, attended the World’s Fair in London, in 1851 and 
presented some of his wool in competition with the wools of 
Europe. The contest under, the rules, was between countries, 
not individuals. The premium of the “ Golden Fleece” was 
awarded to Tennessee, and Mr. Cockerell bore the pleasing 
intelligence home to his fellow-citizens. The Legislature of that 
State, the winter following, passed a resolution tendering Mr. 
C. its thanks, and ordering the preparation of a gold medal to 
be given him as a token of their respect. 

On its presentation, among other things he said ; 

‘‘ Germany, Spain, Saxony, and Silicia were there ; the com¬ 
petition was honorable, strong, and fair. Nature gave me the 
advantage in climate, but the noble Lords and worthy Princes 
of Europe did not know it, until we met in the Crystal Palace 
of London, before a million of spectators. While their flocks 
v/ere housed six months in the year, to shelter them from the 
snow of a high latitude, and were fed from the granaries and 
stock yards, mine were roaming over the green pastures of Ten¬ 
nessee, warmed by the genial influence of a southern sun,—the 
fleece thus softened and rendered oily by the warmth and green 
food, producing a fine even fibre.” 

But to return to the lands of North Carolina. The general 
bearing of the mountain ranges is from N. E. to S. W. A 
large proportion of the lands are thus found facing the South. 
This exposure to the sun serves speedily to melt off the occa¬ 
sional snows which fall during the winter; and I am assured 
that it is very rare for snow, on these inclinations, to remain 
more than thirty-six or forty-eight hours at one time. As blue 
grass and white clover remain green and fresh the year round, 
their substitution for the native grasses would secure the best of 
sheep pasture through the winter, and but little grain would be 
needed by the shepherd for the support of his flocks. 


22 


Nor will there be much waste lands in these mountains. The 
surface of the country, generally, is smooth, the rocky precipi¬ 
ces being limited mainly to the courses of the rivers. A rich 
carpet of native plants and grasses, in spring and summer, every¬ 
where covers the woodlands, affording ample pastures for flocks 
and herds. But these wild pastures, in autumn and winter, grow 
harsh and dry, and are of little value as food for stock. Besides, 
as the country is settling up, and domestic animals multiply, 
this pasturage wears out, to some extent, and is insufficient for 
the support of the stock of the settlers. The substitution of 
blue grass and white clover will remedy this defect. This change, 
with the aid of a little capital, may be easily effected. The prac¬ 
tice prevails of burning the fallen leaves from the ground every 
spring, to destroy the underbrush, and promote the growth of 
the native pasturage. But these burnings have done more than 
merely to keep down the growth of tangled forests, that the cat¬ 
tle may have ample pastures. They serve to keep the woodlands 
in a constant state of preparation for the introduction of the 
tame grasses among the forest trees, as is the custom in Ken¬ 
tucky, and will supersede the necessity of clearing up the grounds 
preparatory to the establishment of sheep farms. 

Wool growers, then, we repeat, must be attracted to North 
Carolina as soon as they come to a knowledge of the advantages 
to be gained in that region. It will cost no more to purchase 
lands there than elsewhere, and it will cost two-thirds less to 
feed^ the year round there, than it does in Vermont or Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and the wool will be more valuable when dipt. 

The burning of the fallen leaves, alluded to above, does no 
material injury to the forest trees, but leaves them, generally, to 
continue their growth. The size of the trees is about equal to 
that of those on similar Geological formations in Kentucky and 
Ohio—in some places low, in others lofty. In the coves of the 
mountains, however, there are trees of equal size with those pro¬ 
duced by the best lands at the North. Take the following meas¬ 
urements, in Tuskeegee Cove, near the Little Tennessee River, 
in Cherokee county, North Carolina, as examples—the line being 
stretched around them about four feet above the ground: 


23 


Black Locust, in circumference, feet, 

Buckeye,.“. 

Shell-bark hickory,....“.“... 

Sugar maple,.“.“... 

White maple,.“.“... 

Chestnut, .“.“... 

Yellow poplar,.“. 

Black oak,.“. 

Beech, .“.“... 


.12 
. 9 
. 8 

. 19 | 

. 18 i 

.10 

.11 


In other localities the wild cherry, black walnut, and the sev¬ 
eral varieties of hickory and oak, attain a size about equal to 
these. In many of the coves, as well as in the less exposed situ¬ 
ations on the mountain sides, where the trees are shielded from 
the winds, they often grow up as straight as arrows, and may yet 
supply a large amount of sTii'p timber to the Southern sea-board, 
when the completion of the Railroads to the North-west, shall 
have stimulated commercial enterprise in our Southern cities. 
The very last conversation I had with that eminent philosopher. 
Dr. John Locke, just before he was taken from us, was on this 
subject. Taking into view the fact that the forests have mostly 
been cleared away on the south of the Blue Ridge, and that trees 
suitable for ships are only produced by the growth of hundreds 
of years, he expressed the opinion, that the timber of the moun¬ 
tains, along the line of the Rabun Gap Railroad, would not only 
be in demand for lumber to supply ordinary purposes at the 
South, but that it must ere long become indispensable to its sup¬ 
ply of ship timber. 

But the slopes and coves of the mountains of North Carolina 
will be used for other purposes than pasturage and as resorts for 
ship timber. Portions of them, adapted to the purpose, by pre¬ 
senting a southern exposure, will be devoted to the cultivation 
of the Grape. Many of the coves, in the midst of the mountains, 
are admirably adapted to this purpose. North Carolina gave to 
the country the far-famed Catawba Grape^ which now enriches, 
by its luscious clusters, the vine-dressers of Cincinnati. Why 
should she not enrich herself by the extensive cultivation of the 
vine, which her own soil spontaneously produced ? 

The Northern sides of these mountains have also their eco¬ 
nomical value, besides being the producers of the loftiest timber. 
They will not only supply the richest summer and autumn pas- 











24 


turcs, when sown in blue grass and white clover, but will yield 
an abundance of hay for winter feeding, when set with red clo¬ 
ver, herd grass, and timothy. 

The Peach and the Apple, too, will rarely fail to yield their 
fruits in abundance, when planted on the northern sides of the 
mountains. Held back in their development of buds and blos¬ 
soms in the spring, by the chilliness of their position, the fruit 
will rarely be sufficiently advanced to be injured by the later 
frosts. Apples and Peaches both are cultivated in a small way 
here, and are unsurpassed for delicacy of flavor by those of any 
other section of the country. On the completion of the Cincin¬ 
nati and Charleston Kailroad, the fruits of North Carolina’s 
mountains will doubtless compete, in the Cincinnati markets 
with that of our own enterprising Orchardists. Or, to guard 
against failures in the future, why should not the fruit-growers 
of Cincinnati double their chances by having orchards in North 
Carolina, as well as in Ohio ? The fruit crops, I was assured, in 
many places, do not fail more than once in four or five years. 

The duration of the winters, in North Carolina, usually, have 
a range of about three months. Plowing, by the best of farm¬ 
ers, is mostly done, for the spring crops, in the month of Feb¬ 
ruary. March, generally, is too stormy, and the weather too 
uncertain, for out-door’s labor. 

In conclusion, I must direct your attention to another very 
important consideration. The country heretofore has been al¬ 
most inaccessible for the want of Railroads. The two already 
mentioned will develope it rapidly. Its mineral resources are 
immense, and wherever great copper mines are developed and in 
operation, a large population will be attracted. 

The stimulus given to the agricultural and mineral interests 
must build up considerable towns and villages, to accommodate 
the mining and agricultural population. Your lands are so situ¬ 
ated with regard to other towns and the railroads, that towns 
must grow upon them whenever the mines are opened, and it 
would be well to select the sites convenient to such mines, and 
lay off towns for the convenience of the people who will emigrate 
there. DAVID CHRISTY. 

Nov. 17, 1856. 












